smh.com.au | ABC slashes shows but defies Alston. The ABC has axed iconic televison programs such as The World at Noon and Behind The News as it carves more than $26 million from its annual budget - and says it will endure more funding pressure if that is the price for its editorial independence. The ABC board's decision spells the end of schools programming, cuts to live sport and documentaries and the closure of the broadcaster's cadet journalist training program, and foreign bureaus may have to close.
Meanwhile Senator Alston is chucking his substantial weight around; but that's nothing new. The Communications Minister, Richard Alston, has persistently accused the ABC of biased reporting.
...for example, telling the truth about what a corrupt #$!@ he is.
This is a real pity - so many great things being cut. Behind the News (for instance) was my first exposure to world events; presented in a kid-friendly manner - informative, but not too confronting. We watched it during the later years of primary school and I liked to think that it would continue on pretty much indefinitely. I guess it's tough to fund a show like that though. It doesn't have the merchandising opportunities of, say, Bananas in Pyjamas.
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